If you weren’t around or old enough to know much about the Gary Hart scandal during the late 1980s, you might want to read up on it before you see “The Front Runner,” the new movie chronicling the rise and fall of Senator Gary Hart. He was the man who many Democrats thought would be their party’s presidential candidate in the 1988 election that was eventually won by George H.W. Bush.

But don’t read or study too closely; there are a lot of historical inaccuracies in the film. I won’t take time to name them all, but a student of history will notice them.

Gary Hart, the Democrat senator from Colorado, was handsome, extremely smart, savvy and an eloquent speaker. He was a Democrats’ “Golden Boy” and had a lot of folks rooting for him. This movie chronicles the final three weeks of the 1988 presidential primary.

Reporters get a tip that a woman is flying to Washington, D.C., to meet up with Hart. She is the same woman he reportedly met on a previous weekend boat trip to the Bahamian island of Bimini. Reporters, who were aware of Hart’s rumored infidelities and his marital separation, begin closing in. The campaign begins to crumble. We see how it all effects the key players in the story, including Hart’s family, the campaign staff, the media and of course Hart himself.

As I said, much of the story is left out. Anyone who knows about the scandal will expect to see the famous “lap sitting” photo, which is never mentioned or shown in the movie. Maybe we, as the audience, weren’t supposed to look too closely. Indeed, much of the real story is left out, and we end up knowing just about as much as we knew back then.

Hart continually stuck by his pledge to keep his private life hidden, but the public’s involvement and interest began to change and evolve as more of the story came out. Hart’s quote, “Follow me around, put a tail on me. I’m serious. They’ll be very bored,” managed to come back to bite him, as reporters used that exact quote to justify their investigation.

Hart eventually left the presidential race. Facts like his reentry into the race prior to the primary (he finished poorly) are left out.

Hugh Jackman, who portrays Hart, will sure receive an Oscar nod for this role, which will most likely be heralded as one of the best of his career. He manages to do a fine job at showing the many sides of Gary Hart and while not coming off as victim, hero or villain.

His wife, Lee Hart, played by the fantastic Vera Farmiga, comes across as a victim but also as a strong woman. She plays the part of a woman caught between the world of the long-suffering political wives of the 1950s and 1960s to one in which wives eventually say “enough is enough.”

A strong ensemble cast includes JK Simmons, Mamoudou Athie and Donna Rice.

Although director Jason Reitman includes fast-paced scenes with plenty going on, the film can be a little draggy at times, and it seems parts of the movie that should be interesting really aren’t. Appealing parts of the story are often traded for mundane and somewhat boring portions. Audiences will be divided on this movie: some will find it sharp, high-brow and engaging. Others will find it dull and slow moving.

Still, all who see this will learn how this particular scandal changed the way the media covers the lives of political candidates. If this was the goal of the movie, it was definitely achieved. My grade: C+

“The Front Runner” is rated R for language and sexual references and opens in theaters Nov. 21. Running time is 113 minutes.